her presence still ripples

remembering

the stars are who they are

and they don’t change,

at least in any way that reveals itself to us,

the  year varies light and dark,

all in a pattern set in stone,

in our lives, though, change flits in and out

like mosquitoes finding opportunity,

there’s joy in a birth, in a birthday, in development and milestone,

there’s sorrow in a death, in a loss, in goodbyes,

death feels empty, an absence, a closure,

yet I also feel, like my father,

that we can still live, at least for a time,

while people remember us

and honor who we were by their choices into the future,

as I cry for my and the world’s loss of my wife’s sister, Ann,

I also feel her presence still ripple

through family and friends and former students,

each of us better for being part of her life,

and better able to reach for the divine

that seeks to be remembered and reborn with each life.

by Henry H. Walker

June 1, ’14